The wind was howling.
Nan Baoyi's heart was pounding only to feel the wind had Xiao Yi's unique cold sweet breath and his fresh clothes. The young man was outstanding!
She heard Xiao Yi's muffled voice beside her ears, calmly explaining to her what the long snake formation was.
It was derived from the habits of a snake and there were three kinds of changes.
Attacking the snake's head, the tail would move and roll up;
Attacking the snake's tail, the head would move and bite;
Ramming the snake's body, the head and tail would twist!
More than two hundred soldiers changed freely, the python swayed as though they were not supported by their legs.
How would Second Brother break the formation?
She gripped that lucky coin tightly.
The lucky coin was not circulated in the market. It was a bronze coin carved with auspicious words symbolizing auspiciousness and blessing.
Her lucky coin was carved with patterns of the sun, moon, and stars on one side and a small Han writing of "Good Luck and Success" was engraved on the other side. She wanted to give this to Xiao Yi.
She gripped it too tightly, her tender palms oozed out beads of sweat, drenching the coin completely.
She looked at the ever-changing formation.
She thought to herself, her Second Brother would definitely be lucky and successful!
Looking at the platform.
The crowd held their breath and stared at the situation without blinking.
In the tense atmosphere, Madam Jiang quietly looked at Old Madam.
The old lady kept smiling kindly, only the string of beads on her hand had not been touched for a long time.
This situation was related to the Nan residence's great undertaking, they were all nervous.
She looked at Nan Guang again.
This little brother-in-law and Madam Liu were displaying their affections and had no regard for the crisis that was approaching.
A man like this could not support the Nan residence.
Her eldest brother-in-law died in battle. Her eldest nephew Nan Chengli was the same as her husband, only knowing how to travel around to do business. They did not understand the game of authority in bureaucracy.
They could earn a lot of money for the Nan residence but could not protect the Nan residence from the dignitaries' claws.
Her eldest son Nan Chengshu only knew how to study hard but was not smart. Passing the imperial examination already took a lot of effort, let alone getting a title in the gold list to enter bureaucracy.
Her youngest son Nan Chengyi liked adventures since young. When he was fifteen, he went off to travel around. Two years had passed and there were only a few letters from him, enthusiastically saying how happy he was that he got to save people from danger.
But he could save other people and not the Nan residence.
Her gaze shifted back to the scene.
The young man in black robes and his horse stopped in the middle of the formation, looking grave and stern like a sword that was unsheathed.
Could it be...
Could it be that the future of the Nan residence rests only upon this young man?
Thinking back of all the times and so many years that she neglected him and looked down at him, Madam Jiang softly let out a sigh.
While the Nan family were anxious, many people were waiting to see a fool of them.
Madam Chang said, "My husband is a military officer, under his influence I do know a thing or two about the military. The long snake formation under General Situ's troops was the most famous. That year they could even win against one hundred thousand troops from Yelang. Xiao Yi is young and ignorant, I don't think he understands the meaning of "propriety".
[Translation note: Yelang was a small barbarian kingdom in southern China during the Han dynasty.]
Madam Cheng was upset about the fact that she lost money. Looking at Xiao Yi, she sneered, "Well young people often like to show off in front of others. When he loses face this time, he would know how to behave properly in the future."
"Hard to say, what if Xiao Yi really could break the formation?" Someone asked curiously.
Madam Cheng smirked, "My second son has been familiar with military books since he was a child and he still dares not claim to be able to break General Situ's long snake formation. Who does Xiao Yi think he is, being capable enough to break the formation?"
"That's right, he is overconfident and letting us see a laughing matter here!" Madam Chang ridiculed, "Even if the Nan family have no other youngsters to cultivate, they should not send such a madman to do such things, aren't they afraid of losing face?"
Laughter and ridicule spread all around as if they were looking at Xiao Yi's downfall already.
On the platform.
Nan Baoyi heard the laughter and her face gradually turned red.
She was annoyed but she heard Xiao said calmly:
"Do not care about other people's sneers and abuse. Do not listen to it, do not think about it, do not be afraid. Nan Jiaojiao, the most powerful way to fight back people's ridicule is to be the best and be successful."
The horse raised its hooves!
Nan Baoyi let out a soft cry and in the next instant only saw shadows of swords in all directions. The young man's black spear was quick as lightning, breaking the spears of countless soldiers whenever he passed.
To fight against the long snake formation, he would need to seize the head, wedge its tail, and chop its body!
The black steed blazed forward, appearing like lightning on the head, tail, and body of the snake!
Xiao Yi's shots were extremely ruthless, the troops in the formation had no time to regather their positions and the entire snake was aggressively cut in half!
With just three times of hitting back and forth repeatedly, the whole snake formation was defeated!
The young man in fresh robes rode his horse to the middle of the platform with an unparalleled grandeur!
His handsome looks were completely overlooked, people only admired his formidable force of power!
The entire place was silent.
In just a short timeframe of one incense stick burning finish, the formation...was already broken?
Situ Lin's appearance was stern and could not help but stood up.
In more than ten years in the military, he had seen countless excellent young men.
But no one was calmer, braver, and more outstanding than Xiao Yi!
During the pin-drop silence, he shouted and applauded, "Brilliant!"
He had expressed his attitude towards Xiao Yi.
Everyone immediately looked differently.
Today's Spring Flower Festival actually made the Nan family siblings famous.
What would the Nan family do next?
The dignitaries were busy thinking of plans that the Nan residence may have and the girls in the platform were all convinced of Xiao Yi's appearance and manner.
Xia Qingqing tugged Nan Yan sleeves and talked endlessly, "Yan'er, I think Xiao Yi seemed much better compared to your brother. He is the Nan residence's adoptive son, also considered your brother. Why don't you recommend me to him? My mother is choosing a husband for me recently!"
Nan Yan had lost all her reputation today and did not have the mood to respond.
She listened absent-mindedly while staring at Nan Baoyi viciously.
She would definitely return today's humiliation in two folds!
Nan Baoyi had no time to entertain Nan Yan's stare.
She followed Xiao Yi down the platform, looked up and said, "Second Brother, I ―"
"The young man of Nan family!"
Situ Lin strode over, interrupting Nan Baoyi.
He and a few of his deputy generals all admired Xiao Yi very much and specially invited him to hang out in a restaurant.
Nan Baoyi stood outside of the crowd and watched Xiao Yi leaving with them, letting out a breath of frustration.
The lucky coin was gripped in sweat in her palm.
Alas, she still could not give this to him!
...
After returning home, Nan Baoyi carefully cleaned the lucky coin.
She could win this year's competition all because of Second Brother's effort.
This lucky coin was very auspicious, she must give it to him.
She took out colorful silk threads and wanted to make a necklace with the coin. But because she was clumsy, the fine silk threads were entangled in a ball which looked very ugly.
She had to cut the silk threads.
She held the lucky coin and looked out the window.
It was getting dark but he still had not returned…
After dinner, Nan Baoyi sat in the study, hoping to wait for Xiao Yi.
She flipped the pages of a book carelessly until the moon was up and the candle in the house burned out. The young man still did not return.
She hugged the book and rubbed her eyes, yawning and dozing off.
Her little head touched the table and she gradually fell asleep.